GONE - PEARL JAM
Pearl Jam has roared back to life at rock radio this year with “World Wide Suicide” and “Life Wasted,” the first two hard-rocking singles from its self-titled J debut. Whether programmers are fully back in the band’s camp will be revealed by the response to “Gone,” a midtempo track with solemn, slow-building verses contrasted by a more uplifting chorus. The theme of a man leaving his past life behind in the rearview mirror is classic Pearl Jam, while lines like “No more trying evenings/This American dream I am disbelieving,” link the concept to the present state of the union. Also welcome is Eddie Vedder’s return to storytelling; you can almost see the city lights receding in your mind’s eye as the song’s subject speeds off to an uncertain future. Billboard
